Wednesday, September 29, 2010

09/29/2010
Noynoy Aquino and his boys in Malacañang made a lot of noise, followed by memorandum circulars (MCs) and executive orders (EOs) in firing a lot of officials and employees who were appointed by then President Gloria Arroyo, insisting that they were all her illegal “midnight appointees,” having been appointed during the election ban on hiring, or that their appointments were antedated, or that they may have been appointed prior to the ban but took their oaths of office after the ban took effect.

To this day, however, despite the MCs and the EOs, Noynoy has been unable to appoint their replacements, which is why, to this day, even after a three-month extension, the ambassadors with political appointees status have not been replaced.

Noynoy himself has admitted that he is having a difficult time finding people to join his government, although he reversed himself while in the United States, claiming that reforms in his government have already taken effect, as he has tapped people to join his government who are willing to have a salary cut..... MORE

09/29/2010
Congressmen who are out to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez are said set to defy the high court’s status quo ante order and will be pursuing the impeachment proceedings against her.

This was announced in a radio interview yesterday with Rep. Niel Tupas who heads the House justice committee.

It was noted, however, that Tupas gave no schedule for the impeachment hearings, which tends to show that this is all bravura, which can, however, boomerang on him and Noynoy Aquino’s allies in Congress.

Frankly, this is a pretty stupid move, coming as it does from lawmakers who are moreover bound by law not only to enact laws, but to obey the law. And whether they like it or not, admit it or not, the law is what the Supreme Court (SC) majority says it is.

And the high court has already ruled that Congress suspends the investigation by the House against the Ombudsman, as it has granted Gutierrez’s petition for certiorari and prohibition against the hearings..... MORE

09/29/2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Campaigning starts Monday in Haiti’s first election since the devastating January earthquake, amid security concerns and with many of the country’s 4.5 million eligible voters living in refugee camps.

Presidential and legislative elections are scheduled for Nov. 28 in a country still recovering from a massive quake that killed at least 250,000 persons and left 1.5 million homeless.

“I hope this election doesn’t become a battleground, where aggressive campaigners try to destroy their rivals instead of expounding their ideas,” outgoing President Rene Preval said Sunday.

Preval, who served two consecutive five-year terms in office and cannot run for reelection, fears there could be unrest during the two-month campaign and vote-counting irregularities later.

“We’ve got enough candidates for these elections: 850 for 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, 95 for 11 seats in the Senate and 19 for president,” Preval said.

“What I’m afraid of is low voter participation and security problems,” he said..... MORE

09/29/2010
For my own convenience, I made what I called a fair assumption that the truck came late for me to be able to hitch and join the bandwagon.

It took me years to realize the importance of Lea Salonga to my generation. I failed to appreciate her contributions to the children of the 1980s when she made it big in the world stage, and it was only later that I discovered Lea Salonga as more than the pretty, dimpled girl who sang duets with Puerto Rican singing group sensation Menudo, in that now obscure track That Situation.

Leah came back to my senses after I decided to do some house cleaning. There she was, a 10-year-old, pink pony-tailed girl, smiling back at me as a cover of what I believe was her very first long playing vinyl album — Lea Salonga, Small Voice.

How it got to my collection of old LPs remains a mystery, but she now shares space with Eric Clapton and Don Henly, and a smattering of even older LPs like the ones of the late Didith Reyes..... MORE

09/29/2010
From Little Big Star third placer to YouTube sensation to Hollywood find, pop star Charice Pempengco is living the Filipino’s American dream — or, as one fan shares in ANC news, “Charice symbolizes every American dream of any and every single American immigrant.”

The 18-year-old’s life is the stuff of telenovela hits, complete with pain, suffering, discovery and triumph. She grew up in a small town and was raised by a single mother. The absence of a father and a life of constant struggle did not dampen her desire to succeed. Charice continued to dream, and dream big. Like many Pinoy wannabes, she joined many singing contests — some say over a hundred! — hoping to change her small family’s fortune.

But that is not the reason we all love the “little Filipina with a big voice.” Charice’s rise to fame and fortune is certainly very inspiring, but that is not all there is to it. All of us are struck by her phenomenal success, more often than not rendered speechless by a talent that was first fully appreciated for what it was by non-Filipinos, thanks to the breadth and speed of today’s technology. We love Charice because she represents some part of us that desires to break out of the mold — that person within that dares to dream and imagine big things happening to his or her life. Filipinos want to be successful and respected; we want our country to shine on any “stage.” Charice has been able to fulfill these dreams for herself, and she is sharing the glory with her kababayans..... MORE

09/29/2010
HERAT — In the refined, cultured and historic Afghan city of Herat, 67 young women have been admitted to the main hospital this year after setting themselves on fire.

Halima is the most recent. She arrived earlier this month with third-degree burns to 30 percent of her body after dousing herself in diesel oil and setting it alight during a family argument.

Her torso and one of her arms — the one that did not pour the oil — are swaddled in thick bandages, the charred and blackened fingers on her right hand poking through. Every now and then she winces in pain.
It had been a furious row, she said, with her husband’s first wife, whom she accused of supplying him with opium.

“I was crazy angry at that time. I wanted to kill myself and I thought that it would be a quick death,” said the 20-year-old who has been a second wife for five years. “But it wasn’t.”.... MORE

09/29/2010
SARAJEVO — A recent deadly attack against a police station has raised fears in already ethnically-divided Bosnia about the spread of the radical Islamic Wahhabi movement there.
The movement, a deeply austere form of Islam that insists on a literal interpretation of the Koran, has been around since it was imported by foreign fighters who took up arms with the Bosnians in the bloody 1992-95 wars.

“According to the figures of our intelligence agency we have some 3,000 Wahhabi followers in Bosnia, but that does not mean they are all terrorists,” Bosnian Security Minister Sadik Ahmetovic said.

“However we cannot exclude that there are individuals among them... who could at a certain point commit terrorist acts,” he added, insisting that Bosnia’s police have the capacity to deal with the menace.

Bosnian Muslims, some 40 percent of a population estimated at 3.8 million, are generally a moderate Sunni community..... MORE

Even as President Aquino’s allies in the House of Representatives committee on justice continued threatening to proceed with the hearings on the two impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, they blinked, as the Supreme Court (SC) made it clear it was not buckling down to Congress with its statement that the status quo ante it earlier ruled effectively stopping the House from proceeding with the impeachment hearings, stays.

The SC yesterday stood pat on its decision that the impeachment proceedings against Gutierrez should not push through just yet.

The SC maintained that the status quo ante order it issued against the House of Representatives committee on justice in connection with the impeachment complaint against Gutierrez is still in force and effect.

SC spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said that there are no changes in the order of the high tribunal..... MORE

Malacañang branded yesterday as unfair an assessment given at a House hearing the other day that the illegal numbers racket “jueteng” was poised for a renaissance under the Aquino administration based on reports from the ground.

Anti-jueteng crusader former Archbishop Oscar Cruz told the House games and amusements committee hearing the other day that jueteng has spread under the current administration.

Appearing before the House committee hearing, Cruz was asked by San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito how he would size up the prevalence of jueteng from the period under former President Arroyo.
“I’m sorry to say, but jueteng flourished under the present administration,” was Cruz’s answer.... MORE

Delays in Noy’s actions on botched sanctions seen 09/29/2010
President Aquino’s claim prior to his trip to the United States that he will be acting immediately on the Incident Investigation Review Committee that has been reviewed by his legal team will likely face more delays, as the legal team yesterday told reporters that even as it has already made its evaluation of the report, Aquino may not have the time to pore over it as he would be suffering from jet-lag.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, in an interview, declined to discuss the content of the review, particularly on the administrative and criminal charges to be filed against 10 personalities and three media networks.
“Let’s not discuss it yet because we might preempt the President,” Ochoa said, adding that the Palace report includes the “factual scenario” of the incident.

“We’re prepared for whatever questions we anticipate the President might be asking about the report,” Ochoa said..... MORE

The grumblings over the military promotions system being practiced under the Aquino administration are hardly over.

Another senior officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has expressed disappointment over the military promotions system as he decried his successive by-passing by officers junior than him during the previous rounds of designations in the 120,000-strong organization.

In an open letter, Col. Jesus Lomeda Jr., a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1980 and assigned to the AFP’s Signal Corps, said that unlike other “disgruntled” officers of the AFP who hide in anonymity when presenting their case, he will not do the same.

“I will not hide in anonymity. I am writing this for the good of the AFP with an intention to be settled among our leaders. I know I will surely be “endorsed” and be reporting to SND (Secretary of National Defense) and upperclassmen when this circulates,” Lomeda wrote in an undated letter entitled “False Hope.”.... MORE

Except for Doctolero, Upano and Estola who are members of the Army’s First Scout Ranger Regiment, the rest are with the Marines.

With the decision, the officers, except for Segumalian, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 56 while in custody, would be reinstated to the service.

But the Armed Forces general court martial did not do the same for the others, as it rejected the dismissal of the charges against nine other officials jailed for their “attempt to create a mutiny” in February 2006..... MORE

Neri to testify against Abalos on NBN deal 09/29/2010
Former Social Security System (SSS) chief Romulo Neri is set to testify against former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos in connection with the botched National Broadband Network (NBN) case being heard by the Sandiganbayan

This after government lawyers yesterday sought issuance of subpoenas for Neri, newspaperman Jarius Bondoc and three other potential witnesses to compel their attendance at the start of the graft trial for alleged unlawful intervention in the $329-million NBN project.

Along with Neri and Bondoc, also requested to be summoned by assistant special prosecutor Jacinto de la Cruz were Comelec records officer Charina Co, lawyer Oliver Lozano and the chief of the Comelec’s personnel section.

Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz claims Malacañang’s Truth Commission does not violate the Constitution and only seeks to address graft and corruption.

Arguing before the Supreme Court (SC) during yesterday’s oral arguments, Cadiz insisted the creation of the body was a “a result of the clamor of our people for closure to massive graft and corruption allegations against the previous administration.”

Answering the petition filed by allies of former President Arroyo, Cadiz argued that Executive Order 1 does not violate the separation of powers of the executive and legislative branches as provided by Article VI, Section 1 and Article VII, Sections 1 and 17 of the Constitution because the truth body has quasi-judicial powers, which requires a law and could not be given by mere executive order.

“The reports of the truth commission are only recommendatory. It has no quasi-judicial powers,” Cadiz told the high court..... MORE